According to the Sun, Manchester United are now the favourites to sign Barcelona wonderkid Thiago Alcantara.

The 22-year-old midfielder has been watched by United officials and after a long three years scouting Thiago, it finally looks like he could be on his way to Old Trafford.

The Red Devils are currently battling it out against rivals Manchester City for the Spaniard but with the Premier League champions set to make a bid of £15 million, they are confident they could see off any threat from The Sky Blues.

The young Spaniard has a release clause of just €18 million up to the end of July, so if Manchester United are serious with their interest they would benefit from making a bid at sometime in the next month.

It is currently unclear whether Thiago would want to leave La Liga Champions Barcelona but teammate and former Manchester United star Gerard Pique has pleaded with Barcelona to encourage the youngster to snub a move to Old Trafford.

Thiago was in sensational form last night scoring a first-half hat-trick in Spain’s 4-2 win over Italy in the European Under-21 Championships. Manchester United goalkeeper David De Gea was also part of the team that won the championship last night. Thiago has played in 27 La Liga games for Barcelona and despite having scored only two league goals, Manchester United boss, David Moyes, is keen to sign the star.